Jail for selling heroin

Waterford woman is sentenced

August 22, 2013

A Waterford woman was sentenced Wednesday in Washington County Common Pleas Court to 120 days in jail for selling heroin to a family member.

Tammy R. Radabaugh, 38, of 56 High St., was sentenced on a fifth-degree felony charge of trafficking in heroin to which she pleaded guilty on July 8.

Radabaugh and a co-defendant, Elton D. Hart, 37, of the same address, were arrested in December by agents from the Major Crimes Task Force after both had sold heroin to a confidential informant in October.

Article Photos

Tammy Radabaugh, right, pictured with attorney Eric Fowler, is sentenced Wednesday in Washington County Common Pleas Court to 120 days in jail for trafficking in heroin.

JASMINE ROGERS The Marietta Times

Radabaugh sold two doses on Oct. 5 at her residence which is right across the street from Waterford High School, which elevated the trafficking offense to a fourth-degree felony when it was indicted in March.

However, the school proximity specification was later dropped during a plea agreement, said Washington County Prosecutor Jim Schneider.

"That state recommends community control. We're asking for a 32-day jail sentence with credit for two days," he said.

The current case was Radabaugh's first felony charge, pointed out her attorney, Eric Fowler.

It was also a small amount of heroin and the transaction was between Radabaugh and a family member acting as a confidential informant, he added.

"So a family member snitched her out?" questioned Washington County Common Pleas Court Judge Ed Lane.

Fowler indicated that was the case.

Despite having no felony record, Radabaugh had a handful of misdemeanor violations and had almost always had her jail time suspended, noted Lane.

The entirety of her jail time was suspended for three separate first-degree misdemeanor theft charges, and she served seven days of a 90-day sentence for obstruction, said Lane.

"The system has basically enabled her because they keep suspending her jail time," he said.

Lane sentenced Radabaugh to 120 days in the Washington County Jail with credit for two days served. He also ordered her to pay $60 restitution to the Major Crimes Task Force and ordered her to undergo evaluation for the court's "Thinking For A Change" program, a cognitive behavioral change program developed by The National Institute of Corrections.

Hart was indicted on two fourth-degree felony counts of trafficking in heroin for selling to a confidential informant at the residence on Oct. 9 and 10.

When Hart was arrested during a traffic stop on Dec. 13, he was in possession of methadone for which he did not have a prescription, leading to a fifth-degree felony count of drug possession as well.